


i get along without you very well (except sometimes)

by radregeneration



Category: Fallout (Video Games), Fallout 3, Fallout 4
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Not Canon Compliant, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Slow To Update, Tags May Change, The Railroad (Fallout), following the freedom trail, lone wanderer plays role of sole survivor, sole survivor never wakes up
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-28
Updated: 2020-07-28
Packaged: 2021-03-06 01:41:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,150
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25575220
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/radregeneration/pseuds/radregeneration
Summary: caedmon saint goes looking the railroad and valentine saint goes looking for his brother. everyone involved makes a friend or two.
Kudos: 2





	i get along without you very well (except sometimes)

**Author's Note:**

> this is an au where my two lone wanderers play the role of sole survivor. this presumably takes place before "going, going, gone"
> 
> 97% of this fic was wrote over a year ago and uses in game dialogue, it makes me cringe but i hope i can finish this story and more about the saints.

caedmon scribbled 'VALENTINE LISTEN TO THIS BEFORE DOING ANYTHING STUPID -CAED' over the holotape that was still 'Join The Railroad' for the time being. he popped the tape into his pipboy, flipped a dial or two, and waited for little bulb that went out years ago to flicker, indicating it was recording. he spoke, calmly and precisely, having memorized this rudimentary speech hours ago:

"valentine. don't look for me, alright? i'm fine. i know what i'm doing and it's not going to kill you if i'm gone for two weeks. don't bother nick, i told him where i'm going and he won't tell you. if i'm not in sanctuary by january or haven't made any contact with you by then, then talk to nick. okay?"

he paused to let out a huff of air through his nasal cavity, then continued.

"preston. i'm sorry, very sorry. i don't want to do this to you, but i need time apart. god, that sounds cliche. we'll talk about this when i get back. charon, for the time being, i'm relinquishing your contract to solely valentine. keep him together for me, yeah? that's all. stay safe and sane while i'm gone, guys. caedmon saint," he paused again to check his pipboy, "1:17 am, december seventh, 2287."

he turned the recorder off, popped the tape out, then set it on his nightstand. he stood with a shaky breath, his joints screeching in protest. he readjusted his goggles, smoothed the lapels of his jacket as if his appearance was being judged by some higher power during his final moments in sanctuary.

caedmon checked over his bags for the third time, finally satisfied with the contents. based on a pre war map marking historical sights in the area that he found in the old state house and the updated but limited geography on his pip boy, he could be out of sanctuary and in the boston common in less than ten hours. ten hours on foot, without any companions, based on whispers in alleys and a few holotapes of dubious origin.

he had done more on less before.

/

by the time the holotape was found and hell was raised, caedmon was in the commons, crouching his way past swan's pond and towards the beginning of the historic freedom trail. he activated the tour bot, proceeded to ignore it, then rolled his eyes at the sign reading 'At Journey's End Follow Freedom's Lantern'. he noted a ring at the start of the trail with a red painted seven pointed to the 'a' in the word trail, and made a memo in his pipboy.

he followed the trail past the house of those long dead, goodneighbor, the burying grounds of those long dead, and a building full of super mutants(which he also crouched past) to an old church that looked surprisingly intact and had a lit lantern in the window. he vaguely remembering the tour bot mentioning the old north church. he had collected all the little clues to get the word 'railroad', which was what he was looking for, so that's a good sign.

he opened the creaky door and was immediately overwhelmed by the smell of musty wood and feral ghouls. which didn't seem to think lucid ghouls smelled all too different, since a few woke up at the sound of the door and caedmon's footfall, sniffed the damp air, then grumbled back to sleep. caedmon stepped around the sleeping ghouls with a whispered, "good napping place, huh? i'll keep this in mind when i go feral."

he saw a lantern painted on a wooden beam in white paint which cleverly almost hid a door. so far there was a running theme of: lanterns, paint, history, and trying to stay unnoticeable to anyone not specifically looking for clues. he headed down the hall into a staircase, which led to mustier tunnels. the tunnels were cold, but humid and faintly warmed by lantern light. the floors were blotted with white paint and stagnant water. caedmon twisted and turned down the halls until he was faced with a wall and a ring like the ones on the freedom trail.

with a hesitant hand, he slid the wheel to the left. it creaked and groaned, but still moved to point to the next letter. a few minutes of sliding the wheel and pushing the center later, a door in the wall creaked open. "great. fun. follow the freedom trail, remember the silly numbers and letters, spell out the name of the underground organization that's hiding in a crypt."

he took a few steps forward and was suddenly blinded with floodlights. his eyes did not have time to adjust to the brightness before he heard a woman speak, her voice echoing off the walls of the chamber.

"stop right there. you went through a lot of effort to arrange this meeting, but before we go any further, answer my questions."

caedmon blinked rapidly and made out the vague figure of a redheaded woman in the center of a raised platform.

"who the hell are you?"

"not one of your ferals. just followed the freedom trail looking for the railroad," he answered, with a faint quirk of a smile. he soon realized he had at least two guns pointed at him, and quickly added, "i'm not your enemy." 

"if that's true, then you have nothing to fear." she squinted at him, waving a lit cigarette in her long fingers. she brought it to her lips and breathed in a drag of nicotine. she exhaled a cloud of smoke and continued to speak. "it's clear you're not with the institute. but who told you how to contact us?"

"found one of your holotapes in, i think, goodneighbor?" caedmon tried to appear relaxed and nonthreatening in fear of being shot. honesty seemed like the safest route to go down. "turns out i found you before you could find me."

"very interesting." she nodded towards the silver haired woman with the mini gun, who reluctantly lowered her weapon. the man- almost boy- on the other side willingly lowered his pistol. the redheaded woman finished her cigarette before finally introducing herself, "i'm desdemona, and i'm the leader of the railroad. and you…"

she was cut off by a fifth person entering the room from seemingly nowhere- stealth boy in the corner? this just keeps getting better, caedmon thought. the man was in just sunglasses, a t-shirt, jeans, and a shit eating grin. the woman - desdemona- seemed visibly exhausted as soon as he appeared. "deacon, where've you been?"

"you're having a party. what gives with my invitation?" he walked up to stand beside desdemona. the silver haired woman seemed more annoyed by him- deacon- than the boy, who was almost amused.

"i need intel." desdemona's suffering was palpable as she turned her attention from caedmon to deacon. she finally focused on the ghoul again. "who is this?"

"wow. news flash, boss," he paused dramatically and obviously looked to the reactions of each person in the room, despite the sunglasses, then continued. "this guy is kind of a big deal out there."

"what's got a smoothskin interested in me?" caedmon cocked a nonexistent brow, finally comfortable enough to joke now that he was most likely not going to get shot.

"really? you know, you're practically famous," deacon started on some spiel, that was bound to go on for minutes. "even got yourself a tall, dark, and handsome bodyguard. where is the big guy?"

"anyways, dez, seriously, you haven’t heard of him? he's the leader of the minutemen. it seems like the whole commonwealth is flying his flag." well, it was more surprising that 'dez' didn't know that, but deacon did. this was more or less common knowledge, at least among smaller settlements that needed the minutemen and goodneighbor which didn't need a second ghoul to use as a figurehead for justice, but accepted one anyways. deacon paused again for dramatic effect. "and as if that wasn't enough…"

however the next piece of intel was more interesting, as a smoothskin who also happened to be named valentine took public credit for this feat, as diamond city didn't seem ready for a ghoul savior just yet. "nick valentine was in a jam, as usual. but word is you bailed him out. and talked your way past skinny malone, too."

"so, you're vouching for him?" desdemona looked to deacon, as if she was mentally debating if anything he said had an ounce of merit.

"yes. trust me, he's someone we want on our side." he sounded almost like he was whining, like a child. he walked to stand between desdemona and the boy. he stood like no one was being interrogated at gunpoint less than minutes ago.

"that changes things." she seemed to accept what deacon has to offer and started speaking solely to caedmon once again. she motioned towards the boy, who fished a pack of cigarettes out of a pocket. he handed one to desdemona who appreciatively took and lit it. he went to light one for himself, but deacon swiped it from him before it reached his lips. "i don't know what, if anything, you've heard out there about us. so let's start with the basics."

"you know what a synth is, right?" she asked as the boy rolled his eyes and pocketed the cigarette pack. desdemona took a slow drag of her cigarette while deacon took a few quick drags in a row. the silver haired woman grimaced at the smoke in the room.

"same thing as androids, right? made in a lab and all that." caedmon spoke carefully. all this smoking almost made him want one, but he could never handle the irradiated nicotine despite his irradiated lungs.

"yes, that is true." she didn't look like she approved of his exact wording, but continued to speak and smoke at the same time. "the institute treats synths as property. as tools."

"that sounds like slavery." it definitely did, and he was definitely against slavery, but he mostly chose the right words that would appeal to desdemona.

"exactly." she obviously preferred this answer to the previous one. it was incredibly easy to pander to her interests and values, caedmon noted, but at least he agreed with what he knew of her ideas so far. "so we seek to free the synths from their bondage. give them a chance at a real life. i have a question. the only question that matters." she paused both to finish her cigarette and for dramatic effect. "would you risk your life for your fellow man? even if that man is a synth?"

"i don't see why not. i risk my life every day for others." now he really was itching for a cigarette. he hoped this would wrap up soon. "any of those people could be synths, and that wouldn't make me change a single one of my actions."

"well said." desdemona's questioning was over just like that, just like her cigarette. "someone with your skills, your beliefs, normally we'd try and recruit you. but right now we don't have time to train up a new agent. there are, however, other valuable ways you can contribute. see deacon for details." she finished her speech then turned to leave through an exit caedmon couldn't see, the boy and the other woman following her out, leaving only caedmon and deacon in the room.

caedmon approached deacon, who seemed like a child meeting his hero.

"hope you didn't mind the reception. when you tango with the institute you gotta be careful when someone new gets on the dance floor."

"she was just being cautious. she didn't know who i was," caedmon said while he looked over deacon. something seemed familiar, almost. "but good thing you did, huh?"

"oh yeah, the famous lone wanderer in our humble little church?" deacon laughed a little smugly at the other's surprise. "what? you didn't think i knew who you are, i just didn't want to really hurt dez's feelings. they'd never recover if she knew she didn't recognize a celebrity like you."

"well, i'm trying to stay more anonymous now." he huffed in disappointment. he thought he could skirt by on smoothskins' ghoul face blindness, but he realized he would need something of a disguise if he was going to be involved with the railroad.

"anonymous is good. great for this job i have. too big for me, just perfect for the two of us. you help me out, we turn a few heads," deacon pitched like a salesman and gestured wildly, " and then dez invites you into the fold. then if you get into a bind and need help, your buddies in the railroad got your back."

caedmon squinted and tilted his head, then nodded anyways. "sounds good. you got a disguise i can borrow? you seem like a guy with a wardrobe full of disguises."


End file.
